Citation Nr: 21067468 Decision Date: 11/04/21 Archive Date: 11/04/21 DOCKET NO. 17-46 679 DATE: November 4, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for acquired psychiatric disorder including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is denied. FINDING OF FACT A diagnosis of PTSD has not been shown at any time during the appeal period; no other acquired psychiatric disorder represents a primary disorder for which service connection may be established. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD, have not been met. 38 U.S.C. § 1110; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Army from October 1968 to October 1970. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a January 2015 rating decision issued by the Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ). In March 2020, the Board issued a decision which denied service connection for traumatic brain injury (TBI). In that same decision, the Board remanded the issues of service connection for major neurocognitive disorder to include Alzheimer's disease or dementia and service connection for acquired psychiatric disorder to include PTSD. Clemons v. Shinseki, 23 Vet. App. 1 (2009). While on remand for additional development, in a September 2021 rating decision, the AOJ granted service connection for vascular dementia with depression (previously rated as neurocognitive disorder, Alzheimer disease type, depression, and memory loss) and assigned an initial evaluation of 50 percent effective April 10, 2014 (evaluated together with cerebral arteriosclerosis). The Board finds the AOJ's decision for this issue constitutes a full award of the benefits sought on appeal. Grantham v. Brown, 114 F. 3d 1156, 1158 (Fed. Cir. 1997). Thus, the Board has no jurisdiction to review the certified issue, and the claim is no longer in appellate status. Issue: Entitlement to service connection for acquired psychiatric disorder including PTSD. As noted above, the Veteran is currently service connected for vascular dementia with depression which is evaluated with cerebral arteriosclerosis. However, the Veteran maintains he is entitled to service connection for PTSD. See Appellant's Post-remand Brief dated October 2021. For the reasons explained below, the Board finds service connection is not warranted. In so finding, the Board notes that the evidence does not indicate a diagnosis of PTSD at any point during this appeal. The existence of a current disability is the cornerstone of a claim for VA disability compensation. Brammer v. Derwinski, 3 Vet. App. 223, 225 (1992). The record shows that an April 2021 VA contract Psychologist specifically indicated the Veteran does not meet the criteria for PTSD under the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), 5th edition. The examiner noted other current mental diagnosis of "Mild neurocognitive disorder, Alzheimer disease type" and "Major depressive disorder, recurrent, unspecified" but indicated the Veteran does not meet the DSM-V symptoms criteria for a diagnosis of major depression. See Initial PTSD Disability Benefits Questionnaire (DBQ) dated April 2021. Here, in the absence of proof of a present disability, there can be no valid claim. Accordingly, service connection for PTSD is not warranted. As to the Veteran's broader claim for an acquired psychiatric disorder, the Board notes that the Veteran has already been awarded service connection for vascular neurocognitive disorder with depression evaluated at 50 percent disabling under Diagnostic Codes 8046-9305 with cerebral arteriosclerosis. Meaning, awarding service connection for more than one psychiatric disability would not afford the Veteran with any greater benefit because the grant of service connection for vascular neurocognitive disorder contemplates his symptoms of depression, dementia, and memory loss. Indeed, neurocognitive disorders, depression, and PTSD are evaluated identically under the General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders. See 38 C.F.R. § 4.126(c), 38 C.F.R. § 4.130, Diagnostic Codes 9305, 9411, 9434. Moreover, as demonstrated above, the Veteran does not have an established diagnosis of PTSD, and symptoms associated with neurocognitive disorder and other psychiatric disorder overlap and are not sufficiently distinguishable. Thus, separate ratings are not appropriate. Further, because all psychiatric disorders, with the exception of eating disorders, are evaluated under the General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders, a single evaluation will be assigned that encompasses all of the Veteran's overlapping psychiatric symptoms. Thus, the Veteran would not be entitled to separate ratings for symptoms or impairment of neurocognitive disorder, depression, dementia, memory loss as 38 C.F.R. § 4.14 provides that rating such manifestations of a disability under multiple diagnoses (i.e., pyramiding) is to be avoided. Accordingly, the Board finds that the AOJ properly rated the Veteran's vascular dementia with depression in a single rating, and entitlement to a separate rating for acquired psychiatric disorder is denied. KELLI A. KORDICH Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board S. A., Counsel The Board's decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.